Aya

photos of ex-bandmen
 
雪音(yukine)(ex-Vidoll) (posted by Black Gene For the Next Scene Ba.ラメ(rame)):

 
 
屑希(kuzuki)(ex-Metis Gretel) (posted by VAMPIRE ROSE Vo.ROSE):

Samples are now available on their OHP: http://purplestone.jp/discography.html#1stsingle
Image change aside, I still love what I'm hearing

Actually, a while ago I found a VAJRA live report that pretty much confirms it's true.... 
 
http://twistedintokyo.blogspot.com/2010/05/vajra-2nd-oneman-ls-last-show.html
 
I still don't know what to think of Eru.  I have to admit, I really enjoy Awake... but this did give me pause.  However, in the end, I won't let the past actions of one person spoil a whole band for me.  I just hope that whatever issues Eru. has (or if it was just an act taken WAAAY too far)... that he's wised up.

I have to agree with ricchubunny. CD sales are NOT a good indication for how successful a band is. To get the most accurate picture, the best place to look is the venue capacity for their one-man lives.
 
 
 
I think there's been a couple threads.  Although, right off the top of my head is this one that I've saved because of all the live house size information it has: Japanese Live Houses Order To Success.

So when was the teenager's death avenged? Before the brick through the window of the Chinese food spot or after enough people walked out of Wal-Mart with brand new televisions? I'm all for holding the actions of police officers accountable as I have to deal with the NYPD, stop and frisk policies, and watching people get arrested, beaten, and occasionally shot for being black on a daily basis. But never get it twisted: no justice was served. The riot will not affect the sentencing of that police officer in a positive manner. The people at that Chinese food spot did nothing to that teenager, yet now they have to deal with the aftermath. Wal-Mart didn't assist the police officer by supplying him bullets, yet now they have to clean up after the riot. Neither did the bank, or the gas station, or whatever else was caught in the crosshairs. How many thousands of dollars did the riot cause in damaged property? How many businesses now have to shut down?
All that was accomplished was the successful destruction of a neighborhood.

There's a lot of interesting points raised in this article. My main issue is that I have to take a lot of this at face value. The article begins by assuming that the reader doesn't know about the underpinnings of the idol industry (and to be fair we don't). He even mentions such grievances as "getting laid off without notice, no maternity or paternity leaves, discrimination against women, sexual and moral harassment in the workplace, poor wages and did I mention no overtime pay?" But there are claims made in this article that I want some other sources for, some of these claims being:
And once the girls “graduate” (i.e., fired) from the group, they’re left with no skills or abilities and their detour into the sex trade is a lot swifter than the days of Onyanko.

I'm not the most versed in this topic but I have observed that when an idol member "graduates" from one group they move into another group. Is this not the case for AKB48? And if this is not the case, how many of them have ended up in the sex trade? Do we have proof or is this just a logical jump made from something he said a few paragraphs earlier?
  Yasushi Akimoto is a Zegen through and through – he’s found a way to cash in on the criticisms and problems within the AKB, by having the girls sing songs (written by him of course) about revolution, sacrifice and worker exploitation. 

Like which songs in particular? Pointing to specific song lyrics and translating them helps a lot for foreigners like me. Otherwise I just have to take it at face value. I have a problem with this because...
   [...]the man certainly knows how to make a yen from peddling idoru fantasies to love-starved males with glasses and bad skin.


I omitted quite a few other records of theirs but look at those numbers. Millions? I'm sure that there's more than the "love-starved males with glasses and bad skin" straw man listening to them to make those sales happen. Hell, I know of female foreigners that buy their singles and love this idol group, although that's purely anecdotal. He's playing up the sex angle here to discredit the guy at the top and that's disingenuous. 
  unfortunately, the gold stays firmly tucked in his pocket without benefitting the girls he ruthlessly expolits. 

Argument would be stronger if we had figures about how much members of AKB48 make, or how much idol pop members make generally. Either we have those figures and he can use them to back up his claim, or we don't and he can't. Just making this claim without evidence is also dubious. Now before someone jumps down my throat, I don't feel any particular way about this article. I am not trying to defend or discredit the author. I just feel like the polemic writing showcases that he has an agenda of his own and has no statistics or sources to substantiate his claims. That's lazy journalism.

I'm SO happy to hear this and that he's feeling better 

live-limited.. WHYYYYYYYYY?? [2]
 
Last chance to get new EVE music and it has to be live-limited? *desk* (hope someone will be able to get and share this single )
 
But I'm still gonna miss them

LUCHe. new maxi single "Heartless" will be released at 2014/06/25 (3 TYPE)
 
TYPE A (1,944yen) will include CD (2 songs)+DVD (including "Heartless" PV), and TYPE B & C (1,620yen each) will include CD (3 songs) only
 
 
btw they will hold their one-man live tour at Shinsaibashi CLAPPER at 2014/07/25, at Fukuoka DRUM SON at 2014/07/28, at NAGOYA HOLIDAY NEXT at 2014/08/02 and at Sendai HooK at 2014/08/04